The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 470 Making sarcastic remarks

A few days later, Liu Feifei said to Liu Hua in a huff, "You were right, that school is all show and no substance."

"You actually went to investigate? Wasn't that a complete waste of time?"

Liu Feifei said irritably, "When I went to those schools, the principals and directors were so welcoming. They introduced me to the flower arranging teacher, the equestrian teacher, and the golf teacher, all of whom were internationally renowned masters."

"It's fake," Liu Hua said dismissively. "Even internationally renowned masters would be proud of their status and wouldn't just accept an invitation from any school to come and teach."

“That’s right.” Liu Feifei nodded: “They’re all just fancy stuff. When I inquired about the teaching quality, they started to evade the issue, emphasizing that they have bilingual teaching and foreign teachers and such.”

“Those foreign teachers are even more fake,” Liu Hua said with a smile. “As long as you can get a foreign teaching certificate, you can become a foreign teacher. The US has a very lax system for obtaining teaching certificates; even people with criminal records can get them.”

"Let Qiaotong continue in her current school," Liu Feifei said with lingering fear. "If I really transfer her school registration, her life will be ruined."

"Regardless of what happens abroad, our country's education is definitely more serious and responsible than theirs," Liu Hua said with a smile. "I'm a teacher myself, how could I not know that?"

Liu Qiaotong was completely unaware that she had gotten into trouble again and that the teacher had called her parents.

When they call the parents to their house, it's always Liu Feifei who goes. In Liu Feifei's words, "You are a well-known scholar and a professor at two universities. If you let the teachers criticize you, our family will really lose face."

In fact, the mistakes Liu Qiaotong made were all pretty much the same, like fighting with classmates, which wasn't bullying, but rather standing up for her good friends.

This behavior must be strictly prohibited from a disciplinary standpoint, but it should be encouraged from a moral standpoint, so repeated criticism has not led to any improvement.

The Ministry of Industry was about to hold a meeting to discuss the direction of industrial development in the new century. The meeting was very lively and attracted many media outlets to cover it.

Liu Hua was both a business representative and a sole development consultant for the Ministry of Industry. His appearance at the entrance of the venue caused quite a stir.

Dozens of microphones were shoved in front of his mouth, and reporters bombarded him with questions, leaving him somewhat overwhelmed. He could only keep apologizing: "Sorry, sorry, we need to go in and sign in. We can talk about interviews later."

The Ministry of Industry delivered a report on the industrial outlook for the 21st century, which was met with applause from the audience.

There is no scheduled speech from Liu Hua today, as there will be group discussions later, which will be Liu Hua's turn to shine.

After the opening ceremony on the first day, the Ministry of Industry arranged for reporters to interview the experts.

More than a dozen authoritative media outlets surrounded Liu Hua for interviews, asking him about his expectations for industrial development in the 21st century.

Liu Hua said some things based on his memory. He was quite conservative in his statement because we have already reached the threshold for many things, and they may have been achieved before the new century even begins.

In short, today's interview didn't offer much substance, and the interviewer clearly wasn't satisfied.

Then a reporter asked, "Professor Liu, as an authority in materials science and mechanics, what is your opinion on a certain statement circulating online?" "What statement?"

"Now people on the internet say that although our country's steel production has increased significantly, it is actually just the most ordinary steel, and there is nothing to be proud of. We can't even make a ballpoint pen refill."

Liu Hua smiled but didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked, "So, what's your take on this issue?"

"I naturally felt indignant, and a little frustrated."

Liu Hua nodded: "That shows you are patriotic, but we need to discuss the issue of not being able to manufacture ballpoint pen refills from several aspects."

Which aspects?

"First, do we need to find this thing now?" Liu Hua said with a smile, "As the reporter just said, our country's steel production is mostly ordinary steel, and the technology is not advanced."

"I agree with this point, because the demand for special steel is not very high. The smelting of special steel requires further refinement based on ordinary steel. Only when the output of ordinary steel is high can special steel be produced. If you find any African country, they can't produce any ordinary steel, so how can they talk about special steel? Therefore, we shouldn't worry about the fact that most steel production is ordinary steel. This is a sign of the improvement of the industrial base."

Many reporters nodded, having grasped the high value of ordinary steel production.

"Secondly, do we need to manufacture steel balls for ballpoint pen refills right now?" Liu Hua countered. "Obviously not. We have many other needs, and various special steel products have not been able to meet our demands. So, we can put aside this insignificant project of ballpoint pen refills for the time being."

"Wouldn't that put us at the mercy of others?"

Liu Hua looked at the reporter with disdain: "You say that ballpoint pen refills are controlled by others? Did you even think about it? If we don't have ballpoint pens, we can use fountain pens, pencils, or brushes. They are not necessities of life, much less necessities for national development."

Is there any other reason?

Liu Hua nodded: "Of course there is. Just imagine how much the steel ball in a ballpoint pen refill weighs. It's negligible, isn't it? Even if all the ballpoint pens, refills, and steel balls in the world were added together, they probably wouldn't weigh as much, right?"

Everyone nodded, and Liu Hua continued, "Our country's industry follows the path of large-scale industry because our country is large. My company, Taiyi New Materials, is currently building a new steel plant in Tangshan, with an annual output of tens of millions of tons."

Someone asked, "What does this have to do with whether or not we manufacture ballpoint pen refills and steel balls?"

Liu Hua said with a smile, "If the smallest furnace in my steel plant were to produce just one batch of ballpoint pen refill steel balls, then every ballpoint pen refill steel ball manufacturer in the world would go bankrupt."

Liu Hua joked, "Those who say we can't make ballpoint pen refills, you all know their true intentions. If we ever succeed, their masters will probably be seething with hatred."

The reporters all burst into laughter. One reporter said with a smile, "Serves them right. People who make sarcastic remarks will eventually get what they deserve."

Liu Hua shook his head: "Don't be so extreme. Although his intentions were not good, his words did have an encouraging effect. It was precisely because of their sarcastic remarks that we were forced to fight back and save face. That's how things have developed to this point."

(End of this chapter)